


Strange Connections

by writingfromdarkplaces



Category: NCIS
Genre: Episode Related, Episode: s12e09 Grounded, Episode: s12e14 Cadence, Episode: s12e22 Troll, F/M, Flashbacks, Fluff and Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-24
Updated: 2016-09-27
Packaged: 2018-08-17 03:16:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8128310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writingfromdarkplaces/pseuds/writingfromdarkplaces
Summary: Gibbs' first meeting with Bishop's husband brings up memories.Or how Gibbs and Jake ended up as BFFs, with some past to confuse the issue.





	1. First Meetings

**Author's Note:**

> I kept having this other AU idea nagging at me, but at the basis of it was this concept that could easily be headcanon. It helped to have an explanation for why Gibbs might have taken to Jake the way he did, gives a possible explanation for some of the inconsistencies, and could be built into a larger story. 
> 
> This should have three parts, one for each of Jake's episodes in season twelve. I am hoping not more, but I think it's obvious where more story could happen.

* * *

Gibbs took another sip of his coffee. He knew his team was about to scatter for the holiday, and he didn't like it. Keeping them close meant a better chance at keeping them safe, though they were all adults that could handle themselves, even Bishop.

Bishop.

He could almost pin the unease he felt as being about her. Now that she'd settled in, becoming more than just a joint-detail or a new interloper, living up to the potential he'd seen, he went back to the things that he did not know about her, including first and foremost the man he shared a home with. Bishop wasn't the first member of his team to be married when she joined, but she was the only one who took over a year to introduce her husband to the team.

What was she hiding? What didn't she want them knowing about her husband?

If the man was abusive, she was better at hiding it than Gibbs would have expected. He'd seen no signs of that. She seemed happy most of the time when discussing her husband, though he'd tried not to pay attention to a lot of it. He didn't need private details about anyone on his team.

Still, the year between her joining the team and them meeting her husband was a red flag, and Gibbs couldn't ignore it. Something was off there, and he wanted to know what it was. He needed to know it was just the job—making the man a bit of an idiot for allowing it to come first as often as it did—and not something more sinister.

Bishop being at risk put the whole team at risk.

Gibbs grunted, carrying his coffee up to the squad room.

* * *

_“I think we just met our future son-in-law,” Shannon said, and Gibbs gave her a look. She laughed, wrapping her arm around his. She leaned her head against him, watching the children on the floor. Kelly was gurgling happily around some plastic thing the other kid had just handed her._

_“She's not even a year old,” Gibbs muttered, shaking his head. “Kid's too old for her.”_

_Shannon snorted. “He's a toddler, Gibbs. And a surprisingly patient one.”_

_Gibbs glanced back at the boy. He'd sat down next down to Kelly almost at the beginning, ignoring the older kids running wild in the backyard. He seemed fine just sitting there, passing her toys when she got bored of the one she had._

_“Still too old for her. Should be playing with kids his own age.”_

_“He's closer to her age than most of the others,” Shannon said, shaking her head. “Maybe he's just a born older brother.”_

_“Key word being_ older.” __

_“In a few years, that won't even matter.”_

_Gibbs shook his head. It was too damn soon to think about his daughter dating anyone. He was not going there. Kelly was a baby. He'd missed being there when she was born, and he'd missed her first steps, but that didn't mean he was ready to see her date._

_“And you are too easy sometimes,” Shannon said, reaching up to touch his cheek. “I just think it's sweet. Big brother or future best friend, Ben is just... adorable.”_

_“Adorable?”_

_“Don't sound so suspicious,” she advised. “He's too young for me.”_

* * *

“Yes, once again, my job forced a last-minute change of plans,” an unfamiliar voice said as Gibbs got close to the squad room. He couldn't see the speaker until he cleared the stairs, but by then, Bishop had taken over, and it was obvious the man next to her was that same troublesome missing husband.

“But not tonight,” Bishop said with a smile, looping her arm around the husband's. 

“No,” he agreed, smiling back at her. 

“We are spending the holiday in Turks and Caicos with Jake's family, no matter what,” Bishop declared, though she was being optimistic in this weather. 

“You better get going, then,” Gibbs said as he rounded the corner. Malloy looked at him with a mixture of surprise and intimidation, reminding Gibbs of a certain kid he used to know on his first day home on leave. Ben had perfected that look when he was still little, and Gibbs had always found it amusing back then. He wasn't so sure about it in a grown man, but then he might be reading more into it because those eyes were so similar to the ones Shannon had sworn she wouldn't ever forget.

The glasses just made it worse.

“Gibbs,” Bishop began, starting the introduction. “This is...” 

Gibbs had to bite back an urge to call him Ben, going with the form of address everyone else was using instead of the one he normally used. “Jake, yeah. How you doing?” 

“Gibbs,” Malloy said, still fighting his nervousness. That also was a lot like a kid he used to know. “Wow. I'm good. Um, listen, I can't thank you enough for what you've meant to Ellie this past year. All of you.” 

He turned to include the others in his little speech, and Gibbs watched him, wondering if he'd felt the need to tack that on in case of some misunderstanding or if he'd intended to do it all along.

“She's earned it,” Gibbs said, still trying to ignore the similarities his brain refused to stop seeing. “Turks, huh?” 

“Turks for Turkey Day. Yeah. Uh, the country Turkey might have been a little too on the nose,” Malloy said with a laugh. His wife joined him, trying to make the moment less awkward, but it didn't work. McGee and Abby smiled, but Gibbs said nothing.

“Uh, well,” Bishop said as she reached to get her stuff. “Gibbs is right—we should get going.”

Her husband nodded. “Yeah, we should.” 

“Six-thirty flight out of Dulles,” Bishop said, putting her bag on her shoulder. 

“Tony should be into Dulles about now,” McGee said. 

“DiNozzo—that's who's missing,” Malloy said, turning to his wife for confirmation, which she gave him with another smile. She seemed pleased by how this visit was going. Gibbs didn't know why the hell she hadn't made it happen sooner. 

“His father's flying in from London.” 

“Maybe you'll see him there,” Abby offered, holding out her hands. 

“Or maybe not,” Gibbs muttered, checking his own computer. “Airport's gonna be nuts.”

“Actually, I'm thinking the snow might thin the crowds a little,” Malloy said, a little overly optimistic himself. 

“All right, well, we'll see you guys.” 

“Nice meeting you,” Malloy told them, walking away with his wife. McGee and Abby exchanged looks. Gibbs just shook his head.

* * *

_“I don't think I will ever get over those eyes,” Shannon said, walking away from the table. Gibbs grunted, shaking his head. He wasn't sure how often their neighbor's kid ended up at their house to eat, but it must have been often enough to where no one here noticed._

_He couldn't fault the kid. Ben was polite as hell, like a lot of military kids. He'd tried to sir Gibbs, and Shannon had glared at him when he'd spooked the kid by telling him never to do it again. Boy looked like a kicked puppy. He'd been so eager and then shrank back for a while until Kelly gave him her stuffed rabbit. Then he'd smiled big as life and started telling her a story._

_No, Ben wasn't a problem, even if every time he looked at the kid Gibbs heard his wife's teasing about their future son-in-law._

_“Kid could use them as a weapon,” Gibbs agreed. “Why's he here?”_

_“Gibbs—”_

_“Don't Gibbs me. He's been here for almost two days straight.”_

_Shannon sighed. “His father's deployed. You know that.”_

_Gibbs nodded. The boy's father wasn't part of his squad, and he was glad, because Gibbs swore the man was home less than he was, and Gibbs had already missed too much of Kelly growing up. She was almost three now, getting so big but so much like her mother already. “And the mom? She got problems?”_

_“Just financial ones,” Shannon said. “She and her husband are in debt. A lot of debt.”_

_Gibbs glanced toward the kid. He was on the small side for a four year old. His wife touched his arm, and he looked back at her._

_“If I thought he was being neglected, I'd have done something about it by now,” Shannon said. “He's lonely more than anything. He barely sees his mother, never sees his father. He's a sweet little kid, doesn't understand why his mother works so much, but he's good to Kelly, and I don't mind having him around.”_

_Gibbs nodded. “I wasn't telling you to make him leave.”_

_“You'd have lost that battle,” Shannon said. She looked over at the kids. Kelly had been hitting her plate instead of eating, but when she saw Ben gobbling down his peas, she stopped and started eating them, picking them up one at a time._

_“Secret weapon?”_

_Shannon nodded. “Works every time, even with foods she hates.”_

_“Kid's a keeper, then.”_

* * *

McGee told him about the threat, and Gibbs reached for his phone. His people were at a northeastern airport, and he wasn't about to leave them in the dark. Bishop's husband was NSA, so he should already know, but even if he did, Gibbs wanted his people informed.

“How credible a threat is it?” DiNozzo asked over the phone. 

“It's elevated,” Gibbs answered, having the feeling in his gut that if the threat came to anything, his people were right where it was going down. “Pretty typical this time of year, but... worth calling about.” 

“Well, man of few words,” Bishop's voice said over the speaker. “Maybe I'm wrong.” 

“She's not talking about you, boss,” DiNozzo informed him unnecessarily. Gibbs knew she didn't mean him, though he wasn't clear on who she meant. 

“Bishop's husband know anything?” Gibbs asked, still wanting to use another name for him.

“Uh, there was some talk of chatter,” Malloy said, sounding nervous and uncomfortable. “Just some memos going around the office, but...” 

“Chatter?” Bishop asked, making it clear that she hadn't known.

“Well,” DiNozzo said into that awkwardness, “snowstorm, will probably keep the terrorists home anyway, right?” 

“Yeah,” Gibbs agreed, still bothered by Malloy's behavior, but he wasn't sure if it was the secret keeping or the way his mind kept going to the past. “It also keeps first responders and emergency service vehicles from getting through, DiNozzo, so... keep your eyes open.” 

“Copy that.”

* * *

_Gibbs came up behind Ben, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder. The kid jerked, pulling away from him. Gibbs frowned. That was new, and he didn't like it much. Sure, Ben was shy, still preferring to stick close to Kelly and them even after he'd started school, but he didn't jump at shadows, either._

_“You're not playing with the others.”_

_Ben shrugged, reaching up to adjust his glasses. “Don't care. Don't want to.”_

_Gibbs snorted. Like that was true. Even now, years later, Ben still had that lonely kid look to him, desperate for someone to stay when everyone was leaving. “This about the glasses?”_

_“Mom says we can't afford to replace them if they get broken,” Ben said. “It wasn't my fault, though. I told her that. She... she said it didn't matter. I knew better because they play rough.”_

_Gibbs folded his arms over his chest. “They pushing you around at school?”_

_Ben shrank in on himself. “No.”_

_“Don't lie to me. I know when you do,” Gibbs said, kneeling down in front of him. “Shannon said you were having a hard time. These kids giving you trouble because of the glasses? Calling you Four Eyes or something like that?”_

_Ben looked up at him. “Why can't I just be normal? I want to be normal. I don't want to be special. Being special... it's wrong.”_

_Gibbs grunted. Shannon liked to tell the kid he was special, and she still felt that way about him even after his friendship with Kelly had changed. Gibbs' daughter had friends her own age that were girls, and that had shifted things, and so had Ben going to school. He still showed up for dinner, and Kelly still liked his stories best—second best to Daddy's—but things weren't the same._

_“You're a smart kid, Ben. Doesn't matter if you need glasses to see or not. Few idiots on the playground can't change that.”_

_The boy grimaced. “Mom told me I'd be happier when I was at school with kids my own age. She was wrong. Or I am. The only people that like me are adults.”_

_“And Kelly. She hasn't stopped being your friend just because she has other friends, too.”_

_“They all think I'm weird. And maybe I am.” Ben bit his lip, and Gibbs waited, but whatever explanation he might have given was interrupted by his mother calling him home._

* * *

Gibbs paced back and forth by his desk, impatient. Now was not the time for memories, not with his people in the middle of an elevated threat, with a dead fake air marshal and a missing gun in an airport full of suspects. That didn't make them stop, though. His mind would not let go of the past, of this connection it seemed determined to make between Jake Malloy and Kelly's friend Ben. 

Even looking at dead bodies didn't shake the feeling.

They had to find this killer before something happened.

He would almost rather be there, at the airport, where this was happening. He couldn't protect anyone from here, and he refused to lose anyone else. He wasn't going to let another death happen on their watch, and sure as hell not one of their own.

Searching the passenger manifests wasn't fast enough. He wanted this guy before he killed again. He wanted him _now._

* * *

_Gibbs looked at the table with a frown. Only three settings. He was used to a fourth, and while he'd figured the absence of one yesterday was because it was his first night back, having it missing two days in a row didn't sit right with him._

_He crossed over to where Shannon was, watching her finish the salad. “Kelly and Ben have some kind of fight?”_

_Shannon dropped the spoon. She looked at him, frowning. “You... didn't get my last letter, did you? You wouldn't ask that if you had.”_

_“Mail must be backed up,” Gibbs said, watching her with concern. That tone in her voice. “What happened?”_

_She leaned over the counter, taking a breath. “Hannah's dead.”_

_“What?”_

_Shannon nodded, closing her eyes. “Must have been a break in, but none of us heard anything. We should have heard something. The place was a mess. She was beaten... How did we not hear anything?”_

_Gibbs reached over to touch her. “This isn't your fault.”_

_“I don't know that I'll ever believe that. I could have done something. Should have seen something. Maybe then Ben wouldn't be in a coma. If he'd been found sooner...”_

_Gibbs pulled her into his arms, holding onto her. He was angry. His family had been right next to that. If it was just a break in, that could have been his wife that died, his daughter that was in the hospital. This wasn't right._

_“Do they know anything?” Gibbs asked. “What about Ben's dad?”_

_“She was found by the officers that came to notify her,” Shannon said. “Gibbs, that boy has lost everything.”_

_“Not us.”_

* * *

“You got anything?” Gibbs asked, still needing answers. He wanted this threat found and stopped. He also wanted to make the damned memories quit, but he'd settle for catching a killer. 

“Who knew so many people traveled through Colombia?” McGee grumbled, going through the pictures with an annoyed click. 

“Wait. Who was that?” Gibbs asked, catching something out of the corner of his eye. He turned to McGee. “Back it up. Who is that?” 

A few clicks from McGee's remote, and the picture was back on the screen. “That is Alberto Velez, fifty-two years old, born in Santo Domingo.”

“Abby, get rid of his beard,” Gibbs ordered as he studied the picture. He could almost see it without her work. “Lighten his hair. Clean him up.” 

“I get it,” she said with a grin, and the photo editing program went on screen, taking out the beard and lightening the hair, giving them someone Gibbs swore he'd seen before. “I totally know where you're headed.” 

“Cross-reference him with the terminal crowd,” Gibbs said, since he knew he'd seen the man before. Had to have been on the surveillance that Malloy's computer gave them. He watched as the scan passed, willing it to hurry.

“Got him.”

* * *

_Gibbs looked at the wall, tempted to smack his fist into it. He wanted to hurt someone. Or something, but he knew he had to keep himself calm. Shannon would understand, but Kelly had his hand, and that meant he had to be on his best behavior._

_“What do you mean, he's gone?”_

_The nurse shrugged. “I'm sorry. I can't—”_

_“Ben is our daughter's best friend,” Shannon said, though Gibbs knew another little girl would dispute that. “He was at our house almost every day. His parents are dead. I realize he's a ward of the state now, but he still needs doctor's care. How could anyone have moved him?”_

_The nurse bit her lip, and Gibbs focused on her with a cold, hard stare. “Who took him?”_

_“I... Apparently, social services found his mother's family,” the nurse admitted, crumpling under the stare. “He... He was transferred to a facility closer to where they live. I'm sorry. I don't have more information that that. I swear.”_

_Shannon put a hand to her head. “If he wakes up, he is going to be lost, confused, and scared. In all the time we've known him, that family of hers has never visited. He'll wake up to strangers.”_

_Gibbs pulled his wife close, hating this but not knowing anything else they could do._

* * *

“Snow angels?”

Gibbs looked at Abby. The idea was insane, and he'd let Palmer know that when he asked earlier, but he'd been remembering Ben all night, and that was dangerous ground. Kelly loved snow angels, and Shannon had shown both kids how to make them.

Somewhere, buried deep and almost forgotten, was a picture of the three of them in the snow, Shannon, Kelly, and Ben. Gibbs had taken it, and then the kids had dragged him into the snow, and he might actually have made a few dozen that night.

Bishop's husband had brought Ben back into Gibbs' mind, and the whole thought driving him tonight was that he wouldn't let what happened before happen again—a lie since it was a pattern that always repeated itself, losing agents like that—but tonight it worked out. His people were safe.

“I'll give you one.”


	2. Dinners and Demonstrations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gibbs remembers more of the past around the same time as the dinner at the diner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I added in a bit more Jake/Ellie fluff here in this part and let others besides Gibbs tell the story a bit more, but still with the flashbacks to explain the connections. I have a whole theory behind this that I will probably add as an ending author's note, but I was trying to get the episode related parts out of my system and may have burned out before doing Troll, much as that is my starting point for so many fics.

* * *

“This is so not working,” Ellie said, pulling on her shirt as she fidgeted in the seat across from Jake. He tried to keep his eyes on the road, but he had to admit that those words had him a little nervous. It was hard not to be, considering why they were at that yoga class.

They were having problems. Ellie wanted them to have something to talk about again, but so far, every couples class they'd tried was a disaster, especially the last one. Yoga was actually better than that, and it had been... awful.

“Are you saying—”

“I think we should stop doing couples classes,” Ellie said, both relieving and worrying him at the same time. “I... Are you mad?”

“A bit relieved, actually,” Jake admitted. He grimaced. “I actually wanted to stop after the last one. Couples massage...”

She shuddered at the same time as he did. “Maybe we should have. Yoga was... not great. I do have some admiration for the way your yoga clothes fit, but that's about all.”

Jake glanced at his shirt. “This is attractive?”

“More the tight pants and a certain yoga pose,” she said, and Jake stared at her. She smiled, taking the sting out of the next part. “Watch the road.”

He supposed he was glad they at least had sex to fall back on, though if that was all they had, they were still in trouble. She was different now, had been since NCIS, and he wasn't sure he'd changed enough to keep up with her.

“We need something else. Classes aren't the answer.”

Jake swallowed, relieved that she actually wanted to keep looking for the answer. He had been almost worried that she wouldn't be. Ellie had changed. That could have meant she wanted out. He didn't, but if she did, then he had to respect it. “Like what?”

“Like... Maybe we need friends in common again,” Ellie said, frowning. “I can't even remember the last time I did anything with anyone from the NSA that wasn't you or related to the case. We've done some stuff with Abby—she still adores you—but Tony and McGee barely know you. And Gibbs... Well, NCIS is like family to me. It's not right for me to have family and you to be excluded from that.”

Jake frowned. He wasn't sure Ellie's NCIS family wanted him to be any part of that, other than Abby, at least. “I don't know. Abby invited us. The others—”

“Haven't, but that could change. Let's make the first offer,” Ellie said. “In fact, I think I'll call Gibbs on our way. That will settle it one way or another.”

Jake nodded, telling himself to focus on the road.

* * *

_“Thank you, Mrs. Gibbs. That was good food.”_

_Gibbs looked over at his wife, but Shannon just smiled, ruffling Ben's hair at the compliment. He looked up at her with a smile, but as soon as she walked away, it fell. He turned back to his plate, but it was already empty. He'd cleaned it up in a hurry, like always. Gibbs swore the kid must not be getting enough food at home with the way he ate._

_“Your mom not a good cook?”_

_Ben stared at him, and Shannon gave him a warning look. She helped Kelly down from her chair. “Would you like to help Kelly wash her hands?”_

_Ben shook his head. “I think I should go home.”_

_“Your mom isn't going to be off work for another four hours. It's okay,” Shannon said. “And you don't have to be scared of Gibbs. Just... how many times this week did you have macaroni and cheese?”_

_The boy held up his hand, counting on his fingers. “Eight times? Maybe nine.”_

_Gibbs frowned. “Every meal is macaroni and cheese?”_

_“I'll go help Kelly now,” Ben said, holding out his hand to the girl, who smeared her sauce on his face instead. He grimaced, and she laughed, running off to the bathroom. Shannon sighed._

_“She's only feeding him macaroni?”_

_“I asked her, and she said it was on sale and all she could afford with as bad as their bills are right now. I'm not sure how they got themselves so badly in debt, but he is getting food. It's just not great food, especially not when it's all he has. He's such a sweetheart, though. He doesn't even complain. He's just happy to have the break when he's here.” Shannon folded her arms over her chest. “Did you really think I wouldn't do something if I thought she wasn't feeding him? I'm tempted enough to call CPS. It's just... She's trying. I see her with him, and she genuinely loves him. She just... had a son after she got herself in so much debt she can't get above it, even with a husband in the service. It's not Ben's fault.”_

_Gibbs nodded, but it still felt wrong. She'd been working on that debt for years already. Why the hell was she still drowning in it?_

* * *

The special had been mac and cheese, Gibbs realized, looking at the sign behind the diner's register with a frown. He'd been blindsided by the memory, not expecting that, of any, to surface when he was reminded of the past. He had plenty of moments with Kelly and macaroni, and he would have figured on one of those coming up first, but it hadn't.

He shook his head, putting the money on the counter for his coffee. The cashier handed him the cup, and he took a sip, nodding in approval. He picked up a lid and put it on just as his phone rang. He carried the cup out with him to the door before stopping to answer it outside the noise of the restaurant.

“Gibbs.”

“It's Bishop. I was just—”

“You got something on a case?” Gibbs demanded. He wanted to hear they had that bastard, Sergei, but so far nothing. Gibbs was getting tired of hearing that from his people and even other agencies.

“Oh, um, no. Not a case. I haven't actually made it in to NCIS yet,” Bishop said. “We were at couples yoga and it ran late and—”

“What do you want, Bishop?”

“To invite you to dinner.”

Gibbs frowned. Since when did his team invite him anywhere? That only happened on certain holidays and other special occasions, like wrapping up a difficult case. “What?”

“Jake and I were talking, and we thought it would be a good idea for him to get to know the team better,” Bishop began, and Gibbs couldn't argue with that. He wanted to see more of Malloy for himself, eliminate a few doubts he had. They hadn't met him for a year while his wife worked difficult and dangerous cases. Something was wrong there, and they all wanted answers.

“You did.”

“So we were thinking we'd offer to take you, Tony, and McGee out to dinner. Not necessarily tonight, but maybe tomorrow? Is that enough notice?”

Gibbs shrugged. Notice wasn't the issue. The issue was the things he'd want to discuss with Malloy—his absence and what he knew about Sergei Michnev—weren't things he'd want an audience for, though he could always confront Malloy about those things at another time. “Tomorrow is fine.”

“Great,” Bishop said. “Sounds good. We'll see you at NCIS just as soon as we get out of this traffic.”

Gibbs hung up, putting his phone back in his pocket.

* * *

_“Since when did Ben get so damned clumsy?” Gibbs demanded, frustrated. He hadn't wanted to spend his first night home on leave cleaning up the mess their guest had made of their table. One water glass became a domino, taking out decorations, two other glasses, and a plate in addition to the one that started it all. He'd made more of a mess trying to clean it up, at least before Gibbs ordered him to stop and he'd run off crying._

_“You made him nervous.”_

_Gibbs frowned. “You're blaming me?”_

_“No,” Shannon said. She set down the rag and looked at Gibbs, sighing. “I think Ben needs glasses. This isn't the first time he's been a little clumsy. It's happening more and more lately. If he's careful, he seems all right. He frowns and squints a lot, but he can pick up food and glasses without trouble. If he gets in a hurry, he spills and makes messes. I've seen enough to where I'm almost sure it's his eyes that are the problem. He told me once it was fuzzy, but after I mentioned it to Hannah, he denied it.”_

_“This a damned money issue again?”_

_Shannon nodded. “I think so. Pretty sure she told him they couldn't afford to do anything about it, so he's trying to pretend it didn't happen.”_

_“That woman,” Gibbs muttered. “There's a base doctor. She's got benefits. What the hell is she thinking?”_

_“I'm not sure she is,” Shannon said. “Her husband is MIA right now. Kristin says she and Bruce have been helping out as much as they can—”_

_“Bruce?” Gibbs asked, shaking his head. “No one needs Bruce's help.”_

_“I know you don't like the guy, but that doesn't mean that he hasn't been very good with Ben,” Shannon said. “He seems to really like the kid. Kristin says she's hoping to start their own family soon.”_

_Gibbs grunted. “I'm taking him to the base doctor. She can try and stop me if she wants.”_

* * *

“Here we are,” Jake muttered under his breath as they came out of the elevator. He should have told Ellie not to do this, but since they already had confirmation from Gibbs, it was pretty much a done deal, and he knew he wasn't getting out of it. 

“Told you they'd be here,” Ellie said as she headed for Tony's desk. 

He saw them and called out across the room. “Hey, look, everybody! It's Jake Malloy. The yin to Bishop's yang. Hey, what is it, Casual Tuesday at NSA?”

Jake tried not to grimace. This was far from what he'd wear for a casual day at work, and he didn't really need the reminder that he and Ellie no longer worked together. “Couples yoga at the YMCA.”

“Mm-hmm,” Ellie agreed. “It ran late. We're changing here.” 

“You guys have been doing a lot of couples classes lately,” McGee said from his desk. 

“Always working to improve our marriage,” Jake said, though he was still uncomfortable discussing the problems in the marriage with other people. He wanted to fix them, but he also just wanted them to go away. 

“And it sucks,” Ellie said, and Jake stared at her, almost choking. She'd said she wanted to keep finding a way to connect, but now he wasn't so sure. “The classes. Not our marriage.”

She gave him a reassuring smile, and Jake managed to smile back, forcing a bit of laughter. Was that one of those Freudian slips? She did want out, didn't she? No, he was overreacting. He had to be. He and Ellie loved each other. They would work this out.

“Last week, it was... couples massage,” Ellie explained with a grimace, and that class had sucked, which proved her earlier words.

“Yeah, that was just creepy,” Jake said, trying not to shudder again.

“Yeah, so after this morning, we decided we are taking a break,” Ellie announced, getting more frowns and looks from McGee and Tony. Jake almost joined them, since that sounded like yet another slip. “From, uh, the classes. Not each other.”

Jake smiled, laughing a little in relief, hoping he was wrong about what she'd said. “And then Ellie had a brilliant idea...” 

“I'm glad that you guys are figuring all this couple stuff out, but if you'll excuse me...” Tony went to work typing on his computer, but it was so awkward and obvious even Jake knew he was faking looking busy. 

“Don't you want to hear what the idea was?”

“You know, isn't the mystery of not knowing more exciting?” Tony asked, not fooling anyone with that one. 

“Ellie,” McGee said with a smile. “I would love to hear what your idea was.” 

“Don't you dare, McGee.” 

“I'm being courteous, Tony.” 

“It's a trap, Tim,” Tony hissed out, and Jake was already regretting this idea. He would have gone if not for Ellie and his own desire to get past their problems.

“We want to take you to dinner,” Jake said, needing to end this before it got more awkward.

“What's the catch?”

Jake shook his head. “No catch. Our treat.” 

“At NSA, we had the same colleagues,” Ellie told them, still managing to smile, “but Jake doesn't really know you guys.”

“So you want to take me and McGee to dinner, no strings attached.”

“And Gibbs,” Jake said, though that had been all Ellie's idea. Jake still found her boss very intimidating and would much rather not go down that route, but she'd asked. He'd said yes. That part was already set and ready.

Tony started laughing. “And Gibbs. Well, there you go. Don't know if you've noticed, but the boss hasn't been the fun, social Gibbs that we all love and fear.” 

Jake thought he actually might enjoy knowing what they didn't—Gibbs had already said yes.

Ellie nodded. “Yeah, well, he has had a lot on his mind lately.”

“That's an understatement,” McGee said, and Jake figured he was right since Ellie had told him about Gibbs' ex-wife being murdered and the other staged killings. “Doesn't matter though—there is no way he's gonna say yes.”

“Already have,” Gibbs said as he came into the room. “Expecting you to be there.” 

“I'll have bells on, boss,” Tony said at the same time as McGee fumbled for an, “I love dinner, boss.” 

Jake had to admit, watching Gibbs do that was rather satisfying. It made the awkwardness of having to ask worth it. In fact, he'd almost enjoyed it despite the obvious reluctance of both Tony and McGee.

“Good. We'll go over the details later,” Gibbs said, and Jake figured that was as much for him as it was the others. “Come on. Got a dead Marine in Gwynns Falls.” 

The others rose, grabbing their bags and heading for the elevator. 

“Can I have a minute to change?” Ellie asked but got no answer besides them not stopping. She shrugged, picking up her own bag. “I'll change in the car. Bye.” 

She gave Jake a kiss and hurried after the others, leaving him staring at her. She hadn't actually said she was going to change in front of McGee, Tony, and Gibbs, had she? “Wait. You'll what?”

* * *

_“I don't want glasses,” Ben said with a pout, and Gibbs shook his head, fighting a smile. That look was just as dangerous as the desperate lonely one and the puppy one. If Ben was a different sort of kid, he'd use that to manipulate everyone around him, but overall, the kid had a good heart._

_“Yeah, but you need to be able to see,” Gibbs told him. He knew they'd be having a different conversation if the boy's eye problems got worse, but for now, as long as they could correct it, Gibbs wasn't going to discuss any disabilities with him._

_“You don't wear glasses. No one I know does except me.”_

_“Makes you special, doesn't it?”_

_Ben bit his lip, but he didn't answer as the car pulled up next to them. Shannon leaned out of the driver's door._

_“So I see a couple of men who deserve a reward for their heroics in battle,” she said with a teasing smile. “What do you say we go get some ice cream?”_

_“Scream,” Kelly called from the backseat, laughing happily. She clapped her hands together, and Gibbs nudged the boy to the car. Shannon always knew just what they needed._

* * *

“No, I understand, you have to go back,” Jake said after Ellie had finished explaining about the call. He didn't understand why it couldn't have come five minutes ago, before he and Gibbs had both sat down in the diner. If neither of them were here, then they could have called it off easily. Now he would have to face Gibbs while canceling it. “It's for the case.”

“Well, the good news is, you can go home,” Ellie said, like she was trying to cheer him up. “And don't worry about Gibbs. Tony's gonna let him know.” 

Jake tried not to grimace since Gibbs was looking right at him. “Oh, I think he already does.”

“Well, yeah, DiNozzo,” Gibbs said, and Jake couldn't tell what that tone of voice meant. Was he upset? Pleased? Neutral? “You do what you got to do.”

“I'm so sorry,” Ellie told him, and Jake wished that was enough, but he did kind of feel like he'd just been thrown to the wolves. Maybe McGee was still coming and it wouldn't be as bad. 

“Okay. I'm gonna go now,” Jake said, hanging up and feeling more awkward than he had as a child getting in trouble. Going to the principal's office or facing his first girlfriend's parents—Ellie's parents—was less intimidating. “I guess it's just the two of us. Should we eat?” 

“Jake, I want to ask you something...” Gibbs began, and Jake swallowed, not sure he wanted to answer anything and doubting he could run fast enough. “Work-related.” 

“Will it require top-secret clearance to answer?” Jake asked, laughing nervously.

“Yeah. And it stays between us.” 

This was more exciting than Jake had thought. He was a little envious of that with Ellie's job. The NSA had its share of excitement, but it wasn't like what she and Gibbs did. “I'm all ears.” 

“What do you know about Russian and Palestinian relations?”

Jake took a breath and leaned forward to explain.

* * *

_“Bird,” Kelly said, holding her grubby napkin at Ben. He made a face, pulling away when she shoved it almost right up his nose._

_“Enough,” Shannon said, taking the napkin away from her and setting it out of reach. Ben reached over and took out a clean one, tearing off a strip and folding it up, grumbling as it stuck to his fingers. “Maybe you shouldn't do that after ice cream.”_

_“I can see it this time,” Ben said, and Gibbs frowned, looking over at his wife. She put a finger to her lips. Ben rubbed his fingers, getting the stickiness off, and then he started over, folding it up into something that almost looked like a bird._

_Kelly clapped, and he passed it over to her. She started making it fly while Ben made another, this one more put together than the last._

_“Where'd you learn to do that?” Gibbs asked, watching him as he concentrated on the folds._

_“Dad,” Ben said, giving the second bird to Kelly, who started a battle between the two of them. Shannon gave Gibbs a look and he shrugged. He hadn't taught his daughter to make her toys fight. “Practiced and practiced to show him, but we didn't have any paper.”_

_“So you stole napkins?”_

_Ben looked down at his hands, face red with shame. He pulled the hood of his sweatshirt up over his head and tried to make himself smaller than he was. “Mom does it. Says we need them.”_

_Shannon shook her head. “No one is punishing you for taking or using the napkins, Ben. You've made Kelly very happy. I'm sure your dad is proud of you, too.”_

_Ben didn't say anything to that. Gibbs couldn't even remember the last time he'd seen the kid's father. Not for months at least, but then he'd been on assignment a few times himself._

_“See? Glasses aren't so bad,” Gibbs told him, and Ben managed a small smile._

* * *

“And that's about all I can tell you off the top of my head,” Malloy said, reaching for his water and taking a sip. He set it down again, picking up his napkin and unfolding it. Gibbs waited, thinking over what Malloy had told him so far and knowing he needed a little more to have what he really wanted—a way to find Sergei Mishnev.

Malloy pulled off a strip, making the napkin square, and then he started folding over and over, and Gibbs watched with a strange sense of deja vu. He knew he'd been in this place before, watching something very similar happen in a diner not too unlike this one.

“You always do that?” Gibbs asked, nodding to the napkin by Malloy's hand. He would have expected that from DiNozzo more than Malloy, since it was not only a sloppy piece of art but showed a bit of childishness as well, even if origami wasn't really for kids.

“What?” Malloy looked down at the napkin and grimaced. “Uh, no, actually. I don't always mutilate napkins in the middle of dinner.”

“Mutilate's a good word for it,” Gibbs said, eying the attempt at bird. “Because that is not art.”

Malloy laughed. “No, it's not. I don't think that books are very good teachers. I don't even really remember learning how to do it, either, which probably explains that, too. It was a fad when I was a kid, though. I think I remember everyone at elementary school trying to make them. Or was that frogs? I suppose it doesn't look like either one, does it?”

“No, it doesn't,” Gibbs said, amused in spite of himself. “Your lousy art skills why Bishop never introduced you to the team?”

Malloy shook his head. “No. It's not... You know, I'm not sure why it didn't happen before that trip. I think it was just a bunch of little things. They got away from us. I was doing a lot of work that impacted overseas so Ellie's schedule and mine were opposite for a while, and that was a part of it. She had work trips. I had work trips. We barely saw each other there for a while. I think it wasn't until we went to her family's house for the holidays that we got ourselves back on track for a bit.”

Gibbs leaned back against the booth. “You sure that's everything?”

“About Russia and Palestine or about last year?” Malloy asked, reaching for his drink again. “I told you—I can find out more about the first two. I have access. It just doesn't happen to be my specialty. I've never been a SME for anything. Sorry—subject matter expert. That's not really what I do at the NSA. I am really... the definition of a paper pusher.”

Gibbs shook his head. Malloy was like Bishop in some ways. He'd gotten himself locked into a role years ago and thought that was all he was. He could be more if he stepped outside it, like his wife had, but he wasn't in the same place as she was, and Gibbs didn't want him to be, not before he caught Sergei. That bastard had to pay for what he'd done to Diane.

“And last year?”

“You mean, am I somehow Ellie's dark secret? Is she ashamed of me or something I've done?” Malloy shrugged. “I can't answer that. I wouldn't think so, but I think everyone's aware that we... have some problems. Maybe she wanted to keep that from the team. Ellie tends to be a very private person. She might not have wanted everyone knowing that we were having trouble. I know... I wasn't, but then... I think most of the blame is mine.”

“How so?”

“I... I work at the NSA. She doesn't. I can't talk about work with her anymore.”

“You talked about it with me.”

“Your clearance level is higher, and technically some of that would have been declassified for your investigation anyway. Or it should have been. Bend the line, don't break it. I didn't do anything illegal, Gibbs. That's not how I work, even if I _do_ work at the NSA,” Malloy told him, and Gibbs found himself smiling. “Anything else you want to ask me about?”

“Yes,” Gibbs surprised himself by saying.

* * *

_“You think they'd arrest my mom?”_

_Gibbs looked over at Ben, frowning. Shannon had fallen asleep during the movie, Kelly curled up in her lap, and if they weren't on top of him, he'd have shut off the cartoon long ago, forgetting that the boy was even there, quiet as he'd been since they got back from getting ice cream._

_“For what?” Gibbs asked, wondering if he was about to hear about other things going on that house that would piss him off. As far as he was concerned, Ben's mother was already too close to that line. It wouldn't take much to convince him she had no business with a kid._

_“Stealing the napkins. She always takes more than we need when we're at restaurants. Sometimes she says they didn't put any in the bag when they did. Or she asks for extras we don't need.”_

_Gibbs shook his head. “Places put out napkins because they know people need them. They're supposed to take what they need while they're eating. That's what everyone does.”_

_“Not my mom.”_

_“She still needs them and uses them, doesn't she?” Gibbs said. “She's bending the rules a little. It's what people do. She's not breaking them. She didn't steal the food, did she?”_

_“No.”_

_“She'll be fine,” Gibbs told the boy. “No one's going to arrest her for taking a few extra napkins. Or even a package of ketchup or salt. Don't worry so much.”_

_Ben bit his lip. “What if something did happen to my mom? She's all I have.”_

_“You got a dad.”_

_Ben snorted. “No, I don't. I never see him. You're more my dad than he is. Or Bruce is.”_

_“Bruce is not your father,” Gibbs told him. “But you have a place here if you need it. Don't forget that. Don't ever forget that you're safe here. You can tell me anything, even if you think it's something I don't want to hear.”_

_Ben nodded, but if something else was bothering him, he didn't mention it._

* * *

“You okay?” Ellie asked, looking across at Tony's desk. She didn't think he was. This case had rattled him, pushing at his past, the past he didn't want others to know about and seemed to have trouble acknowledging himself. 

“Never better.” 

“I have something for you.” Knowing that he was lying about being okay, Ellie rose, crossing over to him. “It's a photo of a photo but... you should keep it.” 

“It's the past, Bishop.” 

“It's your past, Tony, and it's a good one.” 

He looked down at the photo. “I have a tricky relationship with the past. I either bury it... or fixate on it. Still working out the kinks.” 

“Well... whatever happened in your past helped make you the awesome guy you are today.”

Tony smiled, and she doubted he believed any of that, but maybe someday he would. She did like him and admire his skill as an agent. He was a good man in spite of his other less appealing habits.

The elevator beeped, and Tony looked over at it. “Well, if it isn't Jake Malloy. Look at you.”

“Hey,” Jake said, coming over to hug Ellie. 

“Hey,” she said. “Where were you?” 

“Yeah, um, I'm sorry,” Jake answered. “Closed door meetings at NSA all day long. I mean, I would've called but, uh—” 

“But Gibbs had your phone,” she finished for him. 

“Yeah,” Jake said with a wince. She figured he felt guilty for leaving it behind. That wasn't like Jake. He tended to be a lot more responsible than that. “I left it in the diner last night. He said he'd leave it here and I could pick it up.”

She watched him look over his phone. “Sorry I made you sit through dinner.”

“Oh, no, don't be,” Jake said as he finished putting his phone inside his suit pocket. “It was great. I mean, Gibbs is so easy to talk to.” 

“He is?” Tony asked in disbelief.

“Yeah, yeah. And we had a lot to discuss.” 

Ellie didn't know what Jake and her boss could have found to talk about. She didn't think they had anything in common, and if Jake was struggling to talk to her, how could he talk to Gibbs? “Like what?” 

Now Jake looked nervous as well as guilty. “What happens in the diner stays in the diner.”

Tony might have enjoyed the reference, but Ellie hadn't. “Are you kidding? The whole point of the dinner was we would have more to talk about.” 

Jake winced. “And we will, just not about last night.”

“Well, it sounds like you guys have a lot to talk about on the ride home,” Tony said, sounding bothered by them being a 'couple' again, “so good luck with that.”

“Yes, we will,” Ellie said, frustrated. 

“Next time, Tony,” Jake said as they walked away, and she frowned. She hadn't thought Jake was that keen on the dinner in the first place, so why would he want to try again? Because it went that well with Gibbs?

“Bye, Tony,” she said over her shoulder, almost shoving Jake in the elevator so they could be alone together.

The doors didn't close fast enough. “Jake, what was that? We are supposed to be finding common ground and making things work, not creating more secrets.”

He sighed, leaning back against the wall. “Ellie, please. Can't you just be happy that your boss and I managed to survive a dinner together? I thought for sure I was going to get grilled about not coming by for a year, but Gibbs was surprisingly forgiving. I think I made a good impression for once, so please... don't make me ruin it.”

Ellie frowned. “He accused you of something? Like you not coming into where I work is some kind of... conspiracy or something?”

“I'm not sure what he thought about it. He never said, but he seemed to accept my response. It went well, Ellie, better than many of my conversations,” Jake said. “He got a little weird when I turned my napkin into an ugly bird, but we got past it.”

She shook her head. “I thought you said he was easy to talk to.”

“He was. I just... Once I ran out of stuff to say, I got nervous again, and when I get nervous, I turn napkins into origami and don't even notice. He asked me about it. About how I learned and why the napkins...”

She reached over to take his hand. “It is supposed to be done with high quality paper.”

Jake shrugged. “It's not like mine are good enough to be art. I never learned to do any other designs. I suppose maybe we should have gone for that. Couples paper folding.”

In spite of everything, she laughed.


	3. Continued Interactions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Moments from the past and from the episodes leading up to Jake's appearance in Troll.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had thought I'd just do three parts, one for each episode, but I said this was how they got to be BFFs, which required a bit of behind the scenes/missing scenes/filling in some blanks.
> 
> So I did little episode tie-ins from Blast from the Past on. Jake's interaction with Gibbs is fairly clear in Cabin Fever, and I ended up skipping it at first, since I was just going to do a bit before Troll, not every episode. I still didn't do every episode since I kept the skip of Cabin Fever, but this helps establish a bit more of how things got to Troll. I have one more part, to deal with Troll itself, and I started that, but I haven't finished it.

* * *

“Are you going to send Ellie on any undercover assignments?”

Gibbs grunted, shaking his head at the question. “Bishop still worried about that?”

“Worried?” Malloy snorted. “I think she's looking forward to it.”

Gibbs frowned. That wasn't the sense he'd gotten from her, though he knew she'd annoyed more than one person with questions about the possibility of undercover work. Gibbs hadn't assigned her any yet. She wasn't ready. She'd done it herself, once, impersonating a lawyer, but he didn't know that he needed her doing it again. If the situation called for it, though, he'd change his mind.

“Explain.”

Malloy shrugged. “Her father taught her that you have to keep pushing yourself out of your comfort zone to improve, to keep yourself from becoming complacent. She was in a comfort zone at the NSA, so she left it behind, transferred to NCIS. She's finding her place, but she's not completely comfortable yet. Undercover work would be another way of challenging herself. Maybe even a way out of the comfort zone that is us. I mean, our marriage. She'd get to be someone else, someone who isn't... married to me.”

Gibbs frowned. He didn't want to be involved, but if Malloy was right, they needed a lot more than mutual friends and couples classes. “Not planning on sending her undercover.”

Malloy nodded, though he didn't seem relieved. He took his glasses off, cleaning them on his shirt. “What was it you wanted to ask me about again? Other cover identities that could be in use?”

Gibbs had forgotten, actually, but that worked for him. “You know of any?”

* * *

_“I'm sorry.”_

_Gibbs looked over at Ben, frowning. He couldn't remember any incidents since he'd been home. No broken dishes or toys. No fights. Not one thing out of order. Ben was a good kid. If he wasn't, Gibbs would have done something about it years ago. He sure as hell wouldn't be a welcome guest in their home. “For what?”_

_“That I'm always here when you're home and want to be with your family,” Ben said, eyes bright behind the glasses. “I didn't realize how much I was in the way.”_

_Gibbs frowned. “Who told you that?”_

_Ben looked down at his hands, and Gibbs figured it was the kids at school. Damned bullies. Just because a kid had glasses didn't give them the right to treat him like that._

_“Ignore them, whoever they are,” Gibbs said. “You're welcome here. You know that.”_

_“I make more work for Mrs. Gibbs,” Ben said. “She has to cook for me, too, and clean up afterward. She's always watching me when she could be doing things with her friends or with Kelly. Kelly and her friends can't go do girl stuff with her when I'm around. I'm just in the way. Maybe if my mom didn't have me, she wouldn't have to work so much.”_

_“Your mom works so much because she's bad with money,” Gibbs said. “Stop apologizing for existing. None of that is your fault, and no one blames you. If we didn't want you around, you'd know.”_

_“Really?”_

_Gibbs wanted to hit someone, but he couldn't go smacking around some other little boy, even if he was a bully. “Yes, really.”_

_“Thank you.”_

_Gibbs shook his head. “You don't have to thank me for wanting you around, either.”_

_“I wasn't. Was thanking you for... being you.”_

* * *

“Gibbs.”

“I hear we have you to thank for the recent rash of art appraisals that has taken federal offices by storm,” Malloy said over the line, sounding amused. “You would not believe the amount of traffic that has caused around here.”

Gibbs shook his head. He had figured that the admiral's office wasn't the only one, and he wasn't surprised to hear that they'd found more. He'd been expecting the call from someone. He wasn't disappointed to get it from Malloy.

“How many?”

“More than you want to know,” Malloy answered. “Though technically, the exact number will likely be classified. I doubt they want anyone knowing just how much of the intelligence community was compromised. Everyone really wanted yours to be an isolated incident.”

“Including your director?”

“No comment,” Malloy said, making Gibbs laugh, since he knew he was right. “I just figured no one else was going to pass along any thanks, and I suppose I could have asked Ellie to do it—next time I will. Sorry about that—”

“Don't apologize,” Gibbs told him. “It's a sign of weakness.”

“Um... well,” Malloy said. “On that note, I think I'll let you go. Uh... Thanks... again.”

* * *

_Shannon shook her head, arms folded over her chest as she watched the kids playing. Kelly seemed to be enjoying the party, but for some reason, his wife wasn't. Gibbs put an arm around her waist, and she leaned her head against him._

_“What is it?”_

_She sighed. “Ben hears too much.”_

_Gibbs frowned. “What, something we said?”_

_“No,” Shannon said, closing her eyes. She winced. “I know too much about Bruce and Kristin's marriage. And not because she has a big mouth—which she does.”_

_“Ben knows it, too.”_

_“That's not all he knows. I don't think anyone pays attention to what they say around him. It's like they forget that little boy is even in the room. And he's such a little sponge—he soaks it all in. He's so eager to please and so afraid of being alone...” Shannon took a breath and let it out. “He's still so young, but he knows too much... Between his mother's financial problems and the stuff the other parents let slip in front of him—”_

_“Ben can handle it,” Gibbs said. He knew the other boys saw Ben as weak, but he didn't. Underneath the glasses and the awkwardness, Ben was a fighter. He had already shown he could take what life could throw at him. “He's a good kid.”_

_“At this rate, he won't be a kid much longer.”_

* * *

“You want to know about a DOD operation?” Malloy asked, and Gibbs could already picture the frown. “You know that is not something that I can legally answer. Even if the NSA were to be aware of any on-going DOD operations, I would not be able to tell you anything about them.”

“Malloy—”

“I can't budge on that, Gibbs. I've got no legal grounds to release any information were I to have any in the first place,” Malloy said. “And, by the way, I don't. I am not sure why everyone assumes that because I am NSA, I know everything. It's the agency that theoretically monitors everything, not one person within it, and that person would not be me. Attorney, remember?”

Gibbs grunted. “You know more than you let on most of the time.”

“I...” Malloy swallowed. “I have some information that others may not be aware of due to the nature of my work, but that doesn't mean I know everything. In this case, I do not have any information to give you. That's not me being evasive or handing you the party line. It's the truth. I can't tell you anything.”

That was not what Gibbs wanted to hear. “You sure about that?”

“Yes. Now if you wanted information on certain Afghani rebels, I might be able to help, assuming we could relate it to one of your cases and your clearance level was—”

“Maybe next time, Malloy,” Gibbs said, shaking his head as he hung up.

* * *

_“Something wrong, Ben?”_

_The boy shook his head, not looking up. Gibbs grunted. He didn't understand what had changed. Ben had spent most of his life with them, and he never used to lie. Not to Shannon. Not to Gibbs. Now, though, it seemed like everything out of his mouth was a lie, since he kept saying that he was fine._

_“I know that's not true. What's going on with you?” Gibbs asked, kneeling down in front of the kid's face. “If this is about the kids at school—”_

_“No one wants to play with a kid with glasses,” Ben said. “Even the PE teacher doesn't want me playing. They're afraid I'll break my glasses and get hurt. I said I'd play without them, but I can't see good enough.”_

_Gibbs shook his head. He'd talk to that idiot himself later. “You think you could beat an old man if given a fair chance?”_

_“Not at basketball. Too short.” Ben bit his lip. “Mom said Dad played racquetball. Do you know what that is?”_

_Gibbs nodded. “I do. That what you want to play?”_

_“Maybe?”_

_Gibbs laughed, guiding the boy back toward the house._

* * *

“Casual Friday?”

Malloy came to an abrupt stop not far from his car. “Gibbs. Um, hi. I was just heading out.”

“Obviously,” Gibbs said, leaning against the driver's door. He looked over the other man's clothes, trying to decide if the lawyer knew what he'd done when he put them on or if the outfit was unintentional.

Malloy winced. “Yes, well... This was the only time I could get any court time, and I'm overdue for it, actually.”

“Would have figured the suit was what you used for court.”

“Suit? Oh, that sort of court,” Malloy said, laughing. “Gibbs, I'm not a trial lawyer. I've never really seen the inside of a courtroom, and I don't plan on starting now. I meant I finally squeezed in some time for a game.”

“Tennis?”

“Racquetball, actually,” Malloy answered with a slight smile, borderline grimace. “Game of choice at my family's country club and the only game I could ever beat my brother at. Got in the habit of using it for exercise, though it's been months since my schedule let me arrange a match.”

“You have a good partner?”

Malloy shook his head. “You ever played with a beltway lawyer? I don't recommend it. I wouldn't do it, but when it comes to people I know who play racquetball, the list is small. My former law school classmate is one of few.”

“You have any objection to taking on a real challenge?”

“You?” Malloy asked, surprised. “I... I guess I didn't figure you played.”

“Oh, I do.”

“I have a court reserved,” Malloy said. “I mean... if you meant now which I don't know if you did but if you didn't—”

“Just wrapped up a cold case. I've got time.”

* * *

_“What are you making?”_

_“A boat,” Gibbs answered, looking down at Ben with a frown. “Thought you were with Kelly.”_

_“The girls are playing princess. I like Kelly, but I'm not going to wear a dress for her,” Ben answered, and Gibbs hit his finger with the hand sander, biting back words that Shannon insisted shouldn't be heard by kids._

_“That so?” Gibbs managed to ask, wondering if Shannon had told Ben to tell him that. She'd have enjoyed it. “Why not offer to be a prince?”_

_“They'd make me kiss them. Gross,” Ben said, climbing up onto the stool next to Gibbs. “Well, they used to, but not anymore.”_

_Gibbs grunted. He knew he was better off if his daughter and her friends weren't acting out any of those fairy tales with the boy next door—too many damn kisses for kids their age thanks to Disney—but something was off about what Ben just said. “This about the glasses?”_

_“Princes don't wear glasses. Princes are perfect.”_

_That got a snort. “Only in fairy tales.”_

_“Can I help you make the boat?”_

_“Don't you have paper to fold?”_

_Ben shook his head. “I don't think my dad is ever coming back. You do. Bruce does. Dad never does. I don't think he wants to.”_

_“He might not have a choice. When you're in the military, you get orders. You go where you're told to go. You don't always get to be where you want to be.”_

_Ben looked up at Gibbs. “Would you ever not do what they told you to do? Bruce said if he had a kid like me, he'd make sure he was home, even if he had to go against orders.”_

 _“Bruce said that?” Gibbs shook his head. Idiot. He wasn't helping anything, even if he thought that would make Ben feel better. “He'd be throwing away a lot if he did. Going against orders can mean going to prison. Your dad's doing the right thing, even if it doesn't seem like it.”_

_Ben nodded, but Gibbs could tell he still didn't believe it._

* * *

“You play a mean game.”

Jake grimaced. “I... I did tell you I played against my brother, right? He's... highly competitive, a natural athlete, and not half-blind without his glasses.”

Gibbs looked at him, picking up his water bottle. “He doesn't wear glasses.”

“No, that would be my personal affliction. No one else in the family has the same problem, at least not to the degree I do,” Jake said, leaning against the wall and closing his eyes. “I learned to play a bit rough. Had to, when he kept knocking my glasses off.”

“Told you once apologizing was a sign of weakness.”

“I never said I was apologizing,” Jake said, managing a smile. “Explaining, yes. I was definitely doing that. I suppose it could have seemed like an apology, but one thing I've never allowed my racquetball ball game to be is weak.”

“You're a surprising man, Malloy. Wouldn't have thought you had it in you.”

“To play a mean game or to surprise you?” Jake asked, opening his eyes to see what Gibbs would say to that. “I suppose you're used to reading people. I don't think I'm that complicated. Pretty boring, all things considered. Lawyer. Married. That's about all.”

“Family money's not surprising. Lawyer might not be, either, but your chosen practice is different. DiNozzo probably has a few things to say about the way you and Bishop fit, something about an 'odd couple,' and then there's the way you kept yourself hidden for a year.”

“I thought we were over that,” Jake said, frowning. He hadn't done anything wrong. A part of him did wonder if Ellie didn't want her team to meet him, especially since he got the sense she'd never shown them pictures, either, but he hadn't been against meeting the team. Nervous, not opposed. “It just sort of... happened. Not intentional. There were multiple occasions when I intended to go by or was supposed to meet your team socially. They just never seemed to work out, often because of my job.”

Gibbs nodded. “And yet no one dug deep enough to find you before Bishop brought you in.”

“That's on your team, not on me. I have no idea why they didn't, since they seem to be rather... nosy,” Jake said. He frowned. “That is weird, isn't it? Somehow things keep me from meeting the team for a year, but they also never find me before then? Is that really like them, because from what Ellie's told me, it doesn't seem like it.”

“It isn't.”

“I'm a little disconcerted by that, I have to say.”

“You're learning.”


	4. The Final and Broken Pieces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scenes around Troll to fill in a few more blanks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this is the last part of this piece. I'm hoping not to give into the obvious sequel (Gibbs hunting down the truth of what happened to Ben.) 
> 
> I really do need to do another look at Troll, fic wise. I watched it again to get the episode parts right, and yet again it wants to make me write more fic.

* * *

“Did something happen in Afghanistan I should know about?” Jake asked, eying the bedroom door again warily. Ellie had gone out for a run, but not before she almost took the thing off its hinges in frustration. “Gibbs?”

“Bishop didn't tell you?”

“If she'd told me, I wouldn't be bothering you about it,” Jake said, frowning. He went over to the door and ran his hand along it. The thing had been a problem since they moved in, always swelling up and getting stuck, but he'd thought he was about to see something out of the Shining happen with Ellie just now. Tony might have liked that reference. Jake didn't. “She just about broke the bedroom door. I've never seen her like this before. Did... someone die?”

“Mission was a success.”

Jake shook his head. “Success shouldn't cause this. I know the door is a pain, getting stuck like it does, but she could have broke it with her bare hands. Something is bothering her, and I don't know what it is. She didn't tell me, but I'd better find out before they accuse us of damaging the property.”

“Can help you with the door.”

“What?”

“Got a tool that will help,” Gibbs answered. “I'll bring it by the court later.”

“And I suppose you'll tell me... what, not to worry?” Jake snorted. “Or I suppose you just want me to stop asking you.”

Gibbs grunted. “I'm not the one you need to talk to, Malloy. Might help if you fix the door first, though.”

* * *

_“How did you learn to do that?”_

_Gibbs looked up, amused. “Most people wouldn't think this took skill. It's just moving this tool here back and forth. Real simple.”_

_“If it was just simple, you wouldn't do it,” Ben said, making Gibbs smile. “Do you think I'd screw it up if I tried?”_

_“You want to try?”_

_Ben shrugged. “I don't know. I'd probably make a mess of it like the birds Dad taught me to make. Bruce said he'd teach me how to do other things, but I'm not so sure I want him to.”_

_Gibbs didn't think Bruce could teach the kid much of anything, but he'd promised Shannon he wouldn't bad mouth him to Ben. “Come here.”_

_Ben did, and Gibbs put the tool in his hands, helping him move it along the wood in a steady, even pattern. This was simple, yes, but it seemed to relax Ben as much as it did Gibbs, and that was all that really mattered._

* * *

If Jake had been hoping that the time they spent carpooling would make Ellie open up about whatever was bothering her, he had to be disappointed. She hadn't told him anything, more focused on reading something and eating her bagel than she was talking. Jake didn't push, knowing it would do no good if he did.

Even the ride up the elevator was quiet. So much for Gibbs' advice about the door. Nothing had gotten fixed. It just looked fine to anyone who wasn't them.

“Morning men,” Ellie called out as she turned the corner to put her stuff on her desk.

“Wow, look at these early birds,” Jake said, walking toward the two men standing at McGee's desk. He gave them both a smile, trying to be friendly.

“Well, if it isn't Jake the snake who takes the cake who never wakes and bakes,” Tony frowned. “I haven't had my coffee yet.”

“To what do we owe the pleasure?” McGee asked.

“Jake and I decided to carpool,” Ellie began.

“And it's been a while, so I thought I'd pop in and say 'hi' to the gang,” Jake explained. He watched them, now feeling like that decision was a mistake, especially with the way they repeated his words. 

“Oh, the gang.”

Jake had a feeling he would never quite find the right ground for interacting with Ellie's teammates. Maybe that first year was too much and ruined all chances. “Why, is that weird?”

“No,” Tony said, then corrected himself. “I mean, maybe. Unfortunately, your BFF has yet to join the gang this morning.”

Jake winced. “They really call us that?”

Ellie's voice took on a little bit of smugness, satisfied to be proved right. “You thought I was kidding?”

“Uh, look, guys, maybe Gibbs and I starting to become buddies, kind of, but when I say the gang, I mean all of you,” Jake said, counting names out on his fingers as he said them and gesturing to the room. “Jimmy, Ducky, Abby... All of you.”

“We're just messing with you, Jake,” Tony said.

“Mostly,” McGee corrected. “To be honest, we're not even remotely accustomed to anyone getting close to Gibbs.”

Jake shook his head. “I'd hardly say we were close. None of our phone conversations last more than a few minutes.”

“Phone conversations,” Tony said, suspicious, exchanging a look with McGee.

“Like... on the phone?” McGee asked, seeming to have some trouble with the concept.

“Hmm,” Ellie said, shrugging before walking off toward her desk. “They talk almost daily.”

Jake felt very uncomfortable. Ellie was still mad at about him talking to Gibbs, though she denied it most of the time. “Again, very brief conversations.”

“Still, sounds like you buddies are getting...” Tony paused for the word, “buddier.”

“Maybe a second covert operation in the works?” McGee suggested to Tony.

“Funny,” Gibbs said as he came around the corner. “I don't remember the first.”

Jake went to Ellie's desk, wanting to grab the tool Gibbs had lent them. She anticipated him, taking it out of her bag and handing it over.

“Not covert, boss. I meant the... uh... thing with the Russian intel when you and Fornell were at the... uh... cabin,” McGee said, shaking his head. “I haven't had my coffee yet, either.”

“Ah, Gibbs,” Jake began once the other man had reached his desk. “Glad I caught you. I was going to get Ellie to return this, but...”

Gibbs took the tool, blowing it out while Ellie thanked him in her way. “It really did the trick on our bedroom door. Silly thing kept swelling and jamming and sticking.”

“So many set ups to so many jokes I can't say out loud,” Tony said and Jake tried not to think about what they might have been.

“No joke,” Gibbs said, sparing all of them. “Got a dead navy officer in Franconia. Come on, let's go.”

“Then I'll get to work, too,” Jake said, since all of them were about to leave.

“What about the rest of the gang?” Ellie asked, and he wondered if she was making this more awkward for him on purpose.

“Yeah,” Tony said, putting his bag on his shoulder. “Don't you want to say hi to Ducky and Abby and Jimmy?”

“I imagine they're busy, too,” Jake said. Wouldn't Ducky and Jimmy both be on their way to the crime scene? Maybe Abby wasn't, but they would be. “I'll catch them another time.”

“Come on,” Ellie said, gesturing for him to follow her.

* * *

_“I suck at this game.”_

_“Takes practice,” Gibbs said, shrugging. “Everything does.”_

_Ben sat down against the wall, leaning back and closing his eyes. “We don't have to do this again. Not if you didn't like it.”_

_“Who said I did?”_

_Ben shrugged. “Can't be fun playing with someone who isn't any good at it. Why bother?”_

_Gibbs knelt down next to him. “Do you still want to play? Because I'm willing as long as you are. You're not going to get any better if you quit now.”_

_Ben looked at him. “I don't understand. Why would you want to?”_

_Gibbs decided he was going to have another talk with Hannah. She might have Shannon's sympathy, but he was getting damn tired of the way she treated her son. He didn't think he mattered at all to anyone._

_“If it's important to you, it's important to me,” Gibbs told him. “You want to try again?”_

_Ben bit his lip, taking a moment before he nodded._

* * *

Ellie heard the elevator beep, followed by the unmistakable sound of Tony's voice. She perked up, trying to see what he and McGee might have on the case. Maybe they'd learned something more about the ensign's personal life while Gibbs was up finding out about her job.

“It is kind of interesting if we really break it down, right?” Tony asked, hearing McGee agree with him. “'Cause, I mean, there's the age disparity...“Hey, Bish, quick question. The BFFs. Are they on the phone every day?” 

She frowned as they came around the corner to her desk. “Are we still on that?” 

“Well, he is,” McGee said, trying to distance himself from the conversation.

Ellie didn't really want to think about how often her husband interacted with her boss. It was a little awkward, and it still hurt that Jake talked to Gibbs about things he wouldn't discuss with her. “It's not... every day, Tony.” 

“See?” McGee asked in triumph. “What did I tell you?” 

She shrugged. “Most Tuesdays or Thursdays, they just meet for racquetball.”

* * *

_“Gibbs?”_

_“Hmm?” He asked, keeping his arms wrapped around his wife. Kelly was asleep, and they were together again for the first time in months. He had one thing, and one thing only on his mind._

_“I want you to talk to Ben.”_

_Gibbs stiffened, frowning. That was a great way to kill the mood. “What?”_

_Shannon turned around to face him. “Something is bothering him, and he won't talk to me about it. I've tried. I ask every day, and I get the same answer—he's fine. He's not fine, Gibbs. He's withdrawn and quiet, has been for weeks. I think it's the kids at school, but he won't admit it if it is.”_

_“Shannon—”_

_“Talk to him, please. He listens to you, respects you. Maybe he'll tell you something he won't tell me,” Shannon said. She put her hand on Gibbs' face. “Maybe I'm wrong, and it's nothing, but we've been worried about him for years, and he is as much ours as he is Hannah's.”_

_Gibbs grunted. He knew that she wasn't wrong. Shannon had done more to raise Ben than Hannah had, and if she thought something was eating at the kid, it was. “I'll talk to him.”_

* * *

Jake leaned against his car, checking his phone for messages. He hadn't wanted to take the last one he'd gotten or make the call he had to make, but it was done. He'd let NCIS know that the NSA had jurisdiction on this case, and Vance seemed to take it well enough. He was just glad he hadn't had to tell Ellie personally. 

He heard footsteps and looked up, smiling as he went in to kiss Ellie's cheek. “Hey. Long day. Did you eat yet?” 

“What's NSA's interest in Adem Korkmaz?” Ellie asked, anger underneath her words. “I know you know.”

He did, and there was no point in trying to claim he didn't. He gestured to the car, and she glared at him before getting inside. He shook his head as he went around to the driver's door, getting in behind the wheel, shutting the door behind him.

“You know better than to ask me about NSA affairs.” 

“Yet here we are,” she said with a slight shrug. “We used to talk about this stuff all the time.”

“The operative words there—'used to,'” Jake said. She knew why they didn't—why they couldn't. She'd left the NSA. She left that level of clearance behind when she did. She knew he couldn't talk about this.

“Why are you guys monitoring him?” 

He shook his head, still fighting his own anger. Why was she doing this? “Like I know specifics.” 

“You're the agency's lead attorney.” 

“And how many foreign-born businessmen has NSA followed since 9/11? Thousands. Millions. And for a million and one reasons.” 

“We don't care about millions,” Ellie snapped, getting angrier as she spoke. “We care about Korkmaz' computer and its possible connection to the murder of a young Navy officer.”

Murder. How did this tie to any murder? “And... what happened there?” 

“Well, if NSA wasn't interfering,” she said, getting a little snide. “I might know the answer to that, Jake.” 

“We're not interfering,” he told her, wondering when he'd become the enemy or if he had been all along. “Just maintaining jurisdiction on a case that's been ours for months—years.”

“Years?”

“What, you think this is personal?” Jake asked, getting the feeling that she did. She saw this as another fight between her and him, not a matter of jurisdiction and two separate agencies with differing needs and priorities. “Like we suddenly decided to block you guys for no reason?”

“Well, the call Vance just got was pretty sudden.”

“Okay, look, no, stop,” Jake said, holding up a hand, trying to control his own anger. She didn't even see what she was doing here. “You're asking me to betray my agency.” 

“No, I'm asking for your help.” 

She thought that was all it was, and she was wrong. She didn't understand this at all. “In a way you never would have dreamed of before. Something's changed here, Ellie. Something's different. You're different.” 

“Everything is different,” she told him, and he knew she was right. Whatever had been right in their marriage wasn't right anymore, hadn't been for too long. He'd known something was bothering her, but she hadn't told him, just like he could barely tell her anything anymore.

She closed her eyes, letting out a breath. “I shot a man in Kabul last week. I killed him.” 

Jake stared at her. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

“Has a way of changing a person.” 

“Wait—What?” Jake asked, feeling sick. This was what she hadn't told him? And Gibbs hadn't told him? So much for BFFs. This was wrong. All of it. “You... You didn't tell me.” 

“Why would I?” Ellie asked, her next words hurting that much more because they were true. “We don't tell each other anything anymore.” 

Jake tried to find something to say to that. “How, Ellie? What happened?” 

“It was him or me. And... as long as I keep reminding myself of that, I can also keep pretending that I'm fine.” 

She wasn't fine. He could see that for himself. “You should have told me. I could have helped.” 

“Then help me now. Let go of Korkmaz' computer. We need it. Please?” 

Jake leaned his head back against the seat. A part of him didn't want to believe she'd done that. If that wasn't emotional blackmail, he didn't know what was. “I can't. No. I'm sorry. Look, Ellie, you chose to leave NSA and take this job. No one pushed you.” 

“I know.” 

“And it's changed things between us. But we can work it out. Right?”

Her silence was rather damning.

* * *

_“The hell do you think you're doing?” Gibbs demanded, pushing the door open. “This isn't your house. No way in hell you're navy or marine. You've got no business here.”_

_“Actually,” the man said stiffly, pulling on his suit, “I do.”_

_“Like what?” Gibbs asked, crossing toward the other man. “A little well-dressed to be a thief, but that is what it looks like you're doing.”_

_“I am here on behalf of the family.”_

_“What family?” Gibbs demanded. “Hannah's dead. So's her husband. Don't even remember his name—he was never here.”_

_“Hannah's family. I am here to gather her son's belongings and send them on to them.”_

_“Send them where?” Gibbs asked, trying to get a look at the box._

_“I'm afraid I'm not able to disclose that.”_

_Gibbs frowned. “My family lives two doors over. Ben was in and out of our house every day. My wife practically raised him. He's my daughter's best friend. Second best. She wants to know where he is._ We _want to know where he is.”_

_“I am under no legal obligation to tell you that, and I won't,” the other man said. “My firm prides itself on our discretion. Now, please leave.”_

_Gibbs felt his hand curl into a fist. “We're talking about an eight year old boy. He was beaten. They think he saw his mother's murder. You're taking him away from everything he knows—”_

_“I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave.”_

_Gibbs shook his head. “I'm not going anywhere until you tell me where Ben is.”_

_“Gunny,” an MP said from the doorway, “you're going to have to come with us.”_

* * *

Gibbs took up a spot near Vance's desk, knowing from the moment Malloy looked at him from the stairs that he needed to be there. What did not need to be there was whatever was going on between him and his wife.

Vance turned in his chair, addressing their guest. “I do hate to put you in this position, especially with your wife being an agent. 

“My wife's job's beside the point, Director, and this position is my job,” Malloy said, and Gibbs didn't respond to that. He wasn't sure anyone on his team besides Bishop knew or cared what Malloy did. “It's what I do.”

“Then there's what we do,” Gibbs told him, silently reminding him that this was a murder case. They were after a killer.

“And the only thing I haven't been letting you do, Gibbs, is override NSA jurisdiction,” Malloy said, sounding like he wanted to remind them that this wasn't personal when it damn well felt like it was. “And we're under no legal obligation to explain why.” 

“You want my opinion?” Gibbs asked, knowing he wasn't waiting for an answer. Malloy was going to hear what he thought. “Your job sucks.” 

“Gibbs,” Vance broke in as a warning.

“The longer we go before checking Korkmaz' computer, the better chance we have a killer gets away,” Gibbs insisted, aware of Malloy watching him as he spoke.

“Okay, then, go ahead. NSA surrenders access.”

Vance leaned forward in his chair. “Excuse me, did you just say...?” 

“I'll clear it upstairs,” Malloy said, looking at Gibbs as he spoke. “Any repercussions, I'll take the hit.”

Vance rose from his chair, starting to fix his suit as he stood. “Well, you heard the man, Gibbs. Go get your warrant.” 

“Actually, let me save you a step,” Malloy said, stopping Gibbs at the door and taking something out of his pocket.

Vance looked at the device Malloy held out to him. “Is this what I think it is?” 

“I have no idea,” Malloy said, holding it out to Gibbs instead.

Gibbs took it with a smile, glad that Malloy had come through for them, like he'd known the other man would.

* * *

_“Still nothing?”_

_Gibbs grunted. He didn't want to admit it, but Shannon knew him too well for him to even try lying to her. He shook his head, taking her into his arms. He figured Kelly was in bed already, which was good, since she would only be upset if she heard what he was about to say._

_“Nothing.”_

_“How is that possible?” Shannon demanded. “He's a boy. He can't just disappear.”_

_“That lawyer would make sure he did if he had his way,” Gibbs muttered, annoyed. He still wanted to hit that bastard. He didn't care if the guy represented Ben's family. He was a jerk. “He won't tell us where they took him. He won't even give us a damned name.”_

_“I don't understand. Hannah's family never came to see her. They never met Ben as far as I could tell, not so much as a card,” Shannon said, sighing. “Ben thought his grandparents were all dead. No aunts, no uncles. Now this lawyer comes along and says his family is doing what's best for him? They don't even know him.”_

_“No, they don't,” Gibbs agreed, holding on tight. He had hoped that his CO would have something, some means of getting around the damned lawyer, but he'd given Gibbs nothing. They still had no idea where Ben was._

_Kelly was never going to see her friend again._

* * *

“So this kid was friends with Korkmaz' daughter?” Vance asked, looking at the picture of Bradley Simek on the screen. 

“Hardly friends, Director,” Ellie corrected. “They are in the same school with hundreds of other teens, but Layna barely knew him. She had no idea he was in the chat room.” 

“The kid wanted to pull her into what he was doing,” Gibbs added, and Vance nodded.

“But they never even spoke,” Ellie said, continuing on from what they'd learned talking to others at Brad's school. “Apparently, he rarely spoke to anyone. Shy, loner, brooding. Practically a stereotype.”

The phone rang, and Gibbs flipped it open to answer it. “Yeah, Duck, I'll be right down.” 

Ellie watched as her husband walked up to Gibbs and Director Vance. Gibbs watched him, and Ellie wished she knew what he was thinking as he did.

“Jake, need something?” 

“Gibbs, Director,” Jake began, acknowledging each man in turn and not really looking at her. “Are we good? I hope the delay didn't hurt you any.” 

“Well, we'll find out,” Gibbs said, moving past them to go to the elevator.

“All good, Malloy,” Vance said with a smile before walking back toward his office, leaving her and Jake alone—as alone as they got—in the room.

Jake looked at her, and Ellie swallowed, nervous. She didn't know how to face him, but she needed to say something about what he'd done. “Jake, I...” 

“I did my job,” he told her, though they both knew that wasn't all this was. “No worries.” 

She wanted an out, and she took one. “Then I should get back to mine.”

“Ellie,” Jake said, catching her arm before she could duck away. “I wish you'd told me.” 

“We'll talk later.”

* * *

_“I always thought there would be a later,” Shannon said, curled up next to Gibbs in their bed. “I know that there's a chance when you go that you won't come back. I accept that. With you, it's part of the package, and I took all of it on when I decided to love you.”_

_Gibbs combed back her hair. “You're a rare and special woman.”_

_“How can there not be a later with a child? They have whole lives ahead of them. There has to be a later.”_

_Gibbs tightened his hold on her. He didn't want to think about that, about losing Kelly. They might not have Ben, but they weren't going to lose their daughter. Not ever. “There's a later.”_

_Shannon smiled and settled in to sleep._

**Author's Note:**

> Here is my wrap up theory explanation... thing.
> 
> I started this as a thought exercise (trying to stop yet another AU) and it got carried into a headcanon of sorts. I was always curious how this whole BFF thing between Gibbs and Jake was supposed to work, and then with season thirteen comes a complete flip in character from Jake (in my opinion, at least) and Gibbs dropping the ball (he's BFF with Jake and somehow misses the reveal from Day in Court? Um, sure...) This manages to explain almost all of that, minus Jake's OOC thing. That I can't explain and won't, since I don't believe in it.
> 
> Gibbs, though... If he connected Jake to something/someone in the past, that would explain the acceptance and even the possible blind. I chose to make that connection one via Kelly because not only does Gibbs have a particular blind spot to things with her, but according to what I read, Kelly would be in her thirties now, making the idea of her knowing someone about Jake's age not out of the question. Add in the sense that Gibbs somehow "failed" the person he connected Jake to, and well... then everything gets amplified. So there. That's why Gibbs befriended Jake and why he might have missed a few things.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Redeeming the Past](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8161190) by [writingfromdarkplaces](https://archiveofourown.org/users/writingfromdarkplaces/pseuds/writingfromdarkplaces)




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